Paragon Health Institute, a leader in healthcare research and market-based policy proposals, announces today that two Paragon directors have been selected by President Trump to lead health policy for the White House. Theo Merkel has been named Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy at the Domestic Policy Council (DPC) and Dr. Joel M. Zinberg has been named Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council (NEC). Merkel and Zinberg will be responsible for coordinating health policy across the executive branch and will work closely with President Trump’s nominees in the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury, and their senior political appointees.
Paragon President Brian Blase, who during President Trump’s first term held the same position at the NEC that Zinberg will hold this term, applauded the significant development for the nation. “President Trump made excellent choices in selecting Theo and Joel as his chief health policy advisors in the White House,” he said. “They are true experts guided by free market principles, with a commitment to empowering patients and reforming government programs so they work better for enrollees and the hard-working families that pay for them.”
Both Merkel and Zinberg expressed gratitude to Paragon for their years at the organization. “It has been an outstanding experience complementing everyone’s hard work at Paragon,” Theo Merkel said in a statement. Joel Zinberg also praised his time at the DC think tank. “For the past three years I have been amazed at the talented and hard-working people Brian Blase engaged as my Paragon colleagues,” he said. “Through their efforts, Paragon has emerged as the most important and influential health policy think tank in Washington.”
In addition to the Paragon directors heading to the administration, several of the organization’s public advisors will also be working in the Trump administration in key health policy roles. Dr. Marty Makary has been nominated to head the FDA, Casey Mulligan, PhD, has been nominated as Chief Counsel for Advocacy at the US Small Business Administration, and Abe Sutton will lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center.
Reflecting on the Paragon advisors who are now contributing to the new Trump administration, Blase commented, “When I launched Paragon, I sought counsel from a wide range of health policy experts with experience in economics, government, and health care delivery who are committed to reforming government and empowering patients. Marty, Casey, and Abe are top notch appointees by President Trump. I have extreme confidence in them, and I know they’ll have profoundly positive and long-lasting effects on American health policy.”
